A Time for Killing is a 1967 Western film directed originally by Roger Corman but finished by Phil Karlson. Filmed in Panavision and Pathécolor, it stars Glenn Ford, George Hamilton, Inger Stevens, and Harrison Ford (credited as Harrison J. Ford) in his first credited film role. It was also known as The Long Ride Home. Plot During the Civil War, Confederate soldiers escape from a Union prison and head for the Mexican border. Along the way, they kill a Union courier bearing the news that the war is over. Keeping the message a secret, the captain has his men go on and they soon find themselves in a battle with the Union search party who also is unaware of the war's end. Cast Inger Stevens as Emily Biddle Glenn Ford as Maj. Tom Wolcott Paul Petersen as Blue Lake Timothy Carey as Billy Cat Kenneth Tobey as Sgt. Cleehan Richard X. Slattery as Cpl. Paddy Darling Harrison J. Ford as Lt Shaffer Kay E. Kuter as Owelson Dick Miller as Zollicoffer Emile Meyer as Col. Harries Marshall Reed as Stedner George Hamilton as Capt. Dorrit Bentley Max Baer Jr. as Sgt. Luther Liskell Todd Armstrong as Lt. 'Pru' Prudessing Harry Dean Stanton as Sgt. Dan Way Production Development The film was based on a 1961 novel The Southern Blade. The Los Angeles Times called it "fast moving" The New York Times said it was full of "military stereotypes" but that it was written with "professional skill." In October 1964 the screen rights to the novel were purchased by producer Harry Joe Brown. He set up the project at Columbia where he joined forces with Roger Corman. Pre-production By the end of 1964, Roger Corman was one of the most successful low-budget filmmakers in Hollywood, mostly working for American International Pictures. "Everything had been interesting, artistically satisfying, economically satisfying", Corman said eighteen months later. "But I decided I was going nowhere and wanted to move directly into the business." So he accepted a contract with Columbia. Corman had a deal to make three films with Columbia. "But every idea I submitted was too strange, too weird", he later said. "Every idea they had seemed too ordinary to me. Ordinary pictures don't make money today [in 1966] because audiences today are too intelligent... It's a young people's audience... They can see the average for free on TV. You've got to give them